


Rivals to Romance

by Xeo



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Bullying, Fluff, Gay, M/M, Minor Character Death, Smoking, Starbucks, lots of gay, mentions of rape sort of ?, no promise of smut, physical assault, rival coffee shops, swearing and drinking present but not explicit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-19 05:38:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5955694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xeo/pseuds/Xeo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Saving a red-haired Starbucks manager from being mugged is a good thing, right?</p><p>Sousuke hoped that after that, he'd never have to see the manager of the rival coffee shop across the street again. Little does he know, this red-haired college student develops a little crush for his "hero", one he helplessly denies. </p><p>What will happen when Rin learns that Sousuke's been hiding the fact that his family owns Zaki's, the shop across the street that has forever been stirring up trouble for Starbucks?</p><p>Side romances include MakoHaru, Reigisa, and Momotori</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. R

**Author's Note:**

> This little story is the first one I've made with a friend, and my first I've posted to here. I found the prompt on tumblr AND I THANK WHOEVER SUGGESTED IT I'M SORRY I FORGOT YOUR ACCOUNT NAME. I'm not PROMISING to be a somehow amazing fanfic writer but I promise lots of secondhand embarrassment >:) Enjoy!  
> Sorry for any spelling mistakes :P
> 
> This will be 6 chapters long and around 30k words.

_R I N G ! ! ! ! ! !_

The 3 o’clock bell, that signaled his class for the day was over, rang so loud Rin’s ears hurt.

Okay, it’s not that it was _loud_ , more so that it scared him awake from his peaceful nap, and his ears did not appreciate the sudden noise. He _was_ in one of his Literature courses (until the stupid bell rang, of course, telling him to leave) learning about how Romeo and Juliet committed double suicide over the Greeks. Or something.

Rin was asleep. He didn’t know.

It’s not like it mattered. Literature was his minor. He learned plenty of the same stuff in high school, and personally, at the moment, to say the least, he had other matters on his mind. Like for instance, his work. That’s right. _Starbucks_.

He loved his job, he really did. Rin has it all, over on 36th Avenue. He’s a well respected manager of one of the millions of Starbucks around the world. Well, at least that’s what _he’d_ like to think. His employees might just say he’s a jackass with no sense of holding back on cruel words.

Hey, get the job right or quit.

Last month, he got promoted to manager and although he was sleeping less and less he somehow managed to keep his grades the same.

Before, all he had to do was worry about his own work, his own mistakes. Well now that he was manager every damned mistake lands on his back. Rin was still wondering if all this was worth the extra pay.

He more so accepted the promotion because his ego got in the way. What can he say? He took the promotion because he liked knowing the fact he got to prove he could do something. He’s still working on his way of _communicating_ , but all and all there haven’t been any severe incidents.

Rin lifts his head and tries to stretch without being noticed by the teacher, who, by the look on his face, clearly knew he was sleeping. He wouldn’t get lectured though, he’s a straight-A student.

He stands up from his two-person table that’s on the left of the room and realizes that his desk-mate didn’t even bother waking him. Thanks a lot, Momo. He’ll yell at him at work.

Rin takes a deep breath and then slings his bag over his shoulder and then walks down the steps to the bottom of the lecture hall. He walks past the teacher who’s washing the board off and just as expected- no getting yelled at for sleeping.

He strolls out of the classroom and begins to walk towards the library, so he can work on homework before his shift at the shop starts.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

Sousuke thanked whoever was listening that school didn’t last any later than 3 o’clock. He wasn’t sure if he’d have any sort of energy left to stay sitting still for any longer. Shouldering his backpack a little higher on his… _good shoulder_ , he walked in the direction of his dorm. Might as well get a little homework done before his shift started.

About halfway to his dorm, he turned a corner and nearly collided with… well he couldn’t really tell.

“ _Jesus_!” Sousuke exclaimed, stumbling back. He looked back up and saw it was just Nitori.

“Sorry, sorry! I was just trying to–”

“It’s fine.” Sousuke cut him off, not needing an explanation. People bump into each other, it happens. Especially with someone like Nitori. “Where are you going in such a rush, anyway? I thought all the afternoon classes ended,” He said while grabbing his textbook from off the ground before going to stand up..

“Oh, uh, they did! I’m just on my way to the library to meet up with… a friend! We’re working on homework before his classes begin.” Nitori explained, wringing his hands nervously.

Cocking an eyebrow at the student, Sousuke narrowed his eyes and nodded. “Makes sense. Well, run along. Don’t want to keep them waiting, see you around.” Before Nitori could say anything else, Sousuke was already off again.

 _Well_ , he thought, _that was probably five minutes wasted_.

Sousuke continued the walk to his dorm, thankfully not _literally_ running into anyone else on the way. He unlocked the door to his room, signalling him roommate, Kosei, wasn’t home. Sousuke walked in and placed his stuff on his bed, laying down for a minute.

The familiar shuffling of feet on carpet made him open his eyes. It was probably just Kosei. He usually got back either right before or right after Sousuke did. Sousuke sat up, deciding against homework. If he left now, he’d _maybe_ get to work before the others, and avoid a lecture from his dad. Those were like walking through hell and back, they lasted forever and they lost their purpose about halfway through.

Gathering his things out of his backpack for later, he grabbed his phone and headed to the small kitchenette in the dorm.

“Hey Sou. You working tonight?” Kosei asked, looking up from his phone.

“Yeah, why?” Sousuke asked, turning around to face him, slightly curious, and at the same time not really caring.

“‘Cause I was thinking of inviting some friends over for a bit, and since you won’t be home I thought I’d ask to make sure so you won’t flip your shit and come home to a few guys,” Kosei smirked.

Sousuke rolled his eyes.

“Whatever, do what you want. I have a late shift tonight so I won’t be home until later, anyways.” Kosei nodded, not saying anything more.

 _Finally_.

Sousuke grabbed a can of pop from the fridge and turned to head back to his room. It was now  
nearly 3:45, and he _really_ needed to get to work. He exited his room, mumbling a quick goodbye to Kosei and grabbing his phone and jacket, then he was out the door.

Walking to 36th Avenue would take too long, so he opted to take his car. He drove in silence the whole way there. Something about background noise distracted him from the road.

He checked the time on his dashboard, and saw he would maybe be there on time to avoid a lecture. Pulling into the back, he saw his dad’s car wasn’t there. A huge wave of relief washed over him as he hopped out of the car, walked up to the building, and unlocked the door before stepping inside.

Heading into the break room to grab his uniform, he ran into Sasabe getting ready to leave.

“Good evening, Yamazaki.”

“Hello, Sasabe. How was the service today?”

“As usual, we had a rush hour during lunch, but other than that it was fairly quiet.”

“And, how were _they_?” Sousuke asked, trying to sound as bored as possible.

“Christ, Yamazaki, you still obsessed with that redhead from across the street?” Sasabe said, nudging Sousuke.

“What?” Sousuke asked, cocking one eyebrow, looking at Sasabe in half-confusion.

“Either you’re playing dumb or you really are dense.” Sasabe knew it was not the latter. Cheeky bastard.

“Whatever. See you tomorrow,” He said, waving to Sasabe as he turned and left out the door Sousuke had stepped through only moments earlier.

Sousuke grabbed his apron from his hook and tied it around his waist. Just as he stepped out from the break room into the front, he saw _him_ through the big windows that displayed plenty pastries to the street. Rin Matsuoka. The idiot worked for Zaki’s Coffee’s rival, Starbucks.

Perfect. So today they shared the same shift. This probably won’t end well.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

“Sorry Nitori, but I guess I’ll be heading to work first,” Rin sat up from the small circular table in the middle of the library that had seated two students until Rin noticed the time. “But you said you worked at six, right? Don’t be late, again. That grump of a manager might end up lecturing you.”

“Hehe…” Nitori looked up at his upperclassman, while scratching his head out of embarrassment. “I don’t think _that_ will ever happen again, anyways.”

Rin rolled his eyes and put on a small smile, remembering being told the story about how Nitori ran into a stray snapping turtle on his way to work. Of course in the end, it turned out he had no fucking clue it was a snapping turtle.

Let’s just say it’s the last time Nitori took the riverside road to work - and the last time he picked up a turtle only to chuck it into the river. Poor thing almost died. And by poor thing, Rin meant Nitori.

Though Nitori didn’t work with Rin, they still had a close friendship that started in high school.

He vaguely recalled Nitori telling him about the manager at his work, Zaki’s. Apparently he was part of the family that owned the business across the street, and was the “quiet but deadly” type.

Basically Rin summed it up to this; that manager was the opposite of himself. Besides their age, gender, and position at work, they were completely different. Rin wanted nothing but the employees he supervised to be dedicated and hardworking. Though Zaki’s manager probably wanted the same, their approaches for it seemed different.

Rin would work as hard as he could, and was always a decent problem solver. Sure, he could be hot-headed, but everything evened out in the end.

He had heard that the manager across the street would fix problems sometimes without even speaking to anyone. He’d listen to the issue at hand, maybe ingredients running out, or a spill at a table, and he’d just nod his head. Just a nod and then he’d be off to fix it.

Silent, but efficient.

Definitely a threat.

“If it did happen again, I’d be extremely worried. Alright, I’m off. Good luck on the calculus worksheet.” Rin picked up his bag off the ground and threw it over his shoulder and then pushed in his chair. Nitori nodded his head and waved as Rin walked off.

He checked his watch quickly, though knew he didn’t really have a few minute to spare to go back to his dorm room or anything. He’d just eat a quick snack at the shop before his shift started, if he got there in time.

Rin’s roommate recently had to transfer to a different university for the new semester, and although plenty of new students enrolled at this university for the semester change, it just happened to turn out that Rin was the odd one out. He was not re-assigned a roommate, and had his dorm all to himself until the new assignments came from the office during the new school year.

Swinging his keychain around his finger, Rin maneuvered the halls and stairwells until he ended up in the sub-parking lot. He quickly located his red 09’ Ford Mustang in the back right corner of the lot, where he always kept it. After hopping in and starting it, he pulled out.

Well shit. Rin glanced at his dash and smirked a bit as he went up the parking ramp

 _Time to see how long the gas in my car will last for_.

\--------------------------------------------------

The answer? 4 blocks away from Starbucks. Rin wasn’t surprised when he heard his car splutter, and decided maybe he should just walk home after work and come back with a gallon of gas in the morning.

Pulling his car over on the curb, he clicked his tongue and picked up his jacket from the passenger seat that he had left in the car overnight. It may be afternoon and sunny as hell, but people get cold. Especially inside the shop.

With his jacket draped over his soldier, he makes his way towards the shop, stopping occasionally to peer in the windows of random shops that littered the streets of downtown.  
Maybe he’d do some shopping after work, he had to fill the empty space in his half-empty dorm somehow.

Rin jerked his wrist closer to his face when he remembered why he was in downtown anyways and noticed it was five to four.

“Tch.” Rin picked up the pace as he turned onto the sidewalk that ran along 36th Avenue. He strode up the street until he reached Starbucks, He glanced at the display windows to make sure the afternoon pastries were in place and then he pushed the door open.

Hearing the chime above the door sound and allowing the smell of vanilla, cinnamon, and coffee hit him were a part of his job he secretly liked. Sure, he’d probably eventually go sick of these smells and sounds, but not anytime soon.

His eyes adjusted to the slightly dim lighting and he noticed it wasn’t too busy right now. He nodded to Haru as he passed the counter. Rin would’ve struck up a conversation, but had to punch in his card before his shift officially started. Haru was never much of a talker anyways.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

Sousuke was almost 100% certain this shift couldn’t go any worse. No one seemed to know what they were doing. Thankfully, he at least had Makoto to help him with everything.

“Could you take over the register for a bit? I need a break for a minute.” Makoto asked while ripping off a leftover receipt. Sousuke could probably handle the register for ten minutes. He’s the manager! He should be able to do everything….right?

“Yeah, go ahead. I don’t mind.” Sousuke nodded in agreement, and Makoto turned to go into the breakroom.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

“Oi, Haru,” Rin said, turning to look at him. “You’ve been working almost all day. Go take a break.”

Haru didn’t say anything, only nodded his head before heading back into the break room. As he was about to sit down, he noticed a garbage bag by the door. Wouldn’t hurt too much to bring it out before he went back on shift. Grabbing the blue bag full of coffee cups and who knew what else, he stepped outside the back door that led to the alley full of dumpsters.

 _Whoops_.

Something told Haru he wasn’t supposed to be seeing what he was seeing. As he turned to throw the bag in the big bin, he saw the smoke rising from across the street. His eyes followed the trail until it led back to the owner.

Makoto hadn’t seen him yet, so Haru made his presence very clear. He slammed the lid of the dumpster so loud that Rin probably thought he was being murdered.

Makoto, alarmed by the sudden sound, dropped the box in his hand and shot open his eyes only to see a very determined Haru marching across the street towards him. He wasn’t even sure if Haru looked both ways before crossing the street.

“Haru, that’s dangerous! You can’t just-” Makoto started while gesturing his hands towards the street.

SLAP

Just like that, one of his hands was jerked backwards, the cigarette flying out of reach. Haru had slapped his hand, and when Makoto turned his eyes from the street to the man in front of him he’d realized why.

Sighing, Makoto turned on his heel to walk towards the cigarette. When he reached it, he stepped on it to put it out.

“Hey, Haru.” Makoto says, reaching to pick up the discarded cigarette to throw it in the dumpster behind him.

“It’s dangerous? You’re telling me that walking across the street is dangerous?” Haru quietly accuses, using a calm voice. He looks at Makoto who still has his back faced to him.

“It is, a car could’ve come out of nowhere and hit you,” Makoto calmly states, his back still to Haru.

Haru closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“I see.” He didn’t use many words, but those words were something that made Makoto even more wary of turning around. The look in his eyes right now could be deadly. Or they might not be.

“I know what you’re thinking, but just let me explain,” Makoto said, still not wanting to look him in the eye.

“When did this start?” Makoto knew what Haru was after now. The words he chose always had a point. The thing Haru really wanted to know was if what he did caused this.

“Not when you’re thinking, Haru. This wasn’t because of you.”

“When?” Haru’s voice seemed to never waver, but maybe something in the way he said it got to Makoto. Maybe.

“Haru, I think you and I both know when this started,” Makoto said, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

“Would you want me to start then?” Makoto’s head whipped around so quickly it almost hurt. Start? What on earth was he-.

Haru bent down and investigated the box Makoto had dropped. He picked it up and took one of the contents out before dropping the box again. Haru held out his hand. He wanted the lighter.

“Haru, what are you–” Makoto went to ask, only to be interrupted by Haru raising his hand to silence him. He then put the cigarette up to his mouth.

“Give me the lighter.”

“No. I don’t think you know what you’re doing.”

“What I’m doing,” Haru started before bending down once again to snatch up the discarded box. Eyeing it carefully before he continued, “Is watching you kill yourself.”

Makoto knew this would happen eventually. Still, he chose his next words carefully. He eyed as Haru kept looking at the box, almost as if to see if it were real or not. “I know, and I don’t regret starting. It’s helping me cope, so I’m not going to try and quit.”

“You can’t smoke in a hospital.” Haru said, suddenly stating the obvious. But Makoto knew in that instance what he was really going to say.

“So what, while you’re visiting your mother do you sneak away for a minute? Two? Do you go and kill yourself while she’s in the next room fighting to stay alive?” Haru’s eyes pierced into Makoto’s. Surprisingly, his voice was still calm. He lowered the cigarette away from his mouth and put it back in the box.

“It’s… it’s not like that. I don’t even think of it while visiting her.” Haru nodded. Then he did something Makoto didn’t expect. He walked up to him, picked up Makoto’s arm, and placed the box back in his palm. Haru’s hand lingered for a moment as he curled Makoto’s fingers around the box for him. Then, just like that, Haru let go. He turned his heel to walk down the alley so he could cross the street again.

Makoto grabbed his wrist and turned him back around so he was facing him again. Confused blue eyes met sad green eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Makoto whispered. Clutching onto Haru’s wrist, he refused to let go when the raven haired man went to pull out of his grasp.

“Haru, I-” Makoto began, his eyes pleading while looking into Haru’s

“MAAAAKOOOOTOOOOOO!!!!” Sousuke basically screamed from inside. He probably couldn’t handle all the customers talking to him anymore. He was a quiet man after all. Usually.

“You have to get back,” Haru said, avoiding Makoto’s eyes. And with that, Haru turned his head fully around while ripping out of Makoto’s grasp. He then walked back towards the street as Makoto watched in desperation.

“Haru…”  
\-------------------------------------------


	2. I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is NOT beta'd, so beware of spelling errors. I tried to be careful, if that helps

Rin knew Haru was off when he came back from break. He had personally watched as the quiet boy dropped two plates only to stare in annoyance at the shattered pieces as if thinking; “ _ Well what do I do with this?” _

 

He was going to ask what was troubling him, but he didn’t want his employees to think they could slack. They needed to draw a line between their work and their personal business, though at the same time Rin didn’t want to come across as being the kind of guy who didn’t care about his employees.

 

Eventually Rin decided he had had enough of Haru breaking dishes, thank the lord that the cups here weren’t glass, and he sent him home early. Momo must’ve not realized why Haru was sent home, so now  _ he _ was thinking he was next.

 

Momo was visually shivering in fear as Rin approached him. He could just sense that Rin was pissed about something. He stopped wiping the counter and looked up in nervous laughter at the manager.

 

“H-Hey Rin! I just finished making those strawberry scones and I personally think that-” He tried to say something that would ease the looming shadow that was Rin, but was cut off by said shadow.

 

“Really? How  _ nice _ of you to do that. Isn’t that the tenth batch today? Don’t you think you might be overdoing it on the strawberry scones? Why not try a different flavour?” Every. Single. Word. Was pierced with venom.

 

“Oh r-really? I didn’t think of it like that !-I guess that’s why you got promoted to manager, you’re so smart-” Momo smiled what he believed was a very genuine smile, but it faltered once he was cut off by Rin’s next question.

 

“So how was our  _ literature class _ today, Momo?”

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------

 

After beating up Momo verbally, he looked pale as a ghost as he turned back to the counter. Rin was very satisfied with the result of his lecture and made it clear that if it ever happened again he would have Momo repeat every word that came out of the teacher’s mouth while he snoozed.

 

It was an awkward lecture though, considering that every five seconds he had to turn his glare into a smile for the coming and going customers. He also had to stop talking completely when Momo made the drinks, because there’s no way his words would reach him due to the loud blenders.

 

Rin left the defeated Momo to work the counter alone as Chigusa and Gou walked in to work their night shift. Rin thought it was best to stick the two friends together since they had school together, meaning they were the two most likely to get along while the tired uni students came in to get their caffeine fix for the night.  

 

Rin tried to stay during the night shifts, he didn’t want two teenage girls to work alone and be surrounded by  _ college boys,  _ but sometimes Momo was generous enough to stay for longer, or Rei traded his morning shift for the night shift.  

 

This couldn’t keep going on for much longer. Either his sister had to grow up a lot quicker, which he did not want in the slightest, or he needed to hire another person to work the night shift.

 

“Hey you two, chop chop. Just because I’m now technically your boss doesn’t mean I’ll let you be late for your shift every time you feel like taking your time.” He was more so talking to his sibling, but Chigusa nodded her head in understanding while nudging Gou.

 

“Hmph. Maybe I wouldn’t be so late if  _ you _ didn’t forget to buy more rice.” Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms and marched right past Rin into the break room. A frazzled Chigusa soon following behind her after apologizing to Rin.

 

“Momo, you can go now. Don’t forget about what we talked about.” Rin walked over to the counter to take over the register while the two girls got into uniform. Momo muttered a goodbye and bolted for the back room. 

 

Rin looked up as the door chimed and recognized the person as someone who came by often to walk home with Haru. 

 

“Makoto, right?” Rin smiles at the friendly face. “Haru left work early today, I don’t think he was feeling well.” 

 

“Oh, okay. Thanks,” Makoto smiled sadly, turning around to walk back out the door.  _ So much for walking home with Haru.  _ Makoto had hoped they would get to talk about earlier today.

 

“Wait a second.” Rin says to the man, before running into the break room. He came out seconds later and leaned over the counter with something in his hands. “Haru forgot this on the table back there, I was going to return it to him when he came for his shift tomorrow, but could you give it to him instead? I obviously can’t call him and tell him it’s here.” Rin held out the object over the counter. 

 

“Oh, yeah. Of course,” Makoto said, taking Haru’s phone in his hand and looking at the phone strap.   _ He kept it? _ Makoto remembers when he gave it to him, it was right before Haru did  _ that _ . The thing that had continued to confuse Makoto for days.

 

Makoto turned to leave, waving goodbye and shoving the phone in his pocket. 

 

They had wanted to go to a high-school festival a few days ago, and Makoto and Haru walked to it together. Makoto thought it was pretty fun, but Haru’s expression was even more emotionless than usual. Even Makoto couldn’t read it.   _ Maybe he just isn’t having fun or something,  _ Makoto had thought, and decided it was late enough already. So they headed home.

 

_ “Why’d you want to leave so early?” Haru asked as they approached the door of his second-floor apartment. Sure it was cold, but it wasn’t  _ that _ dark out yet. _

 

_ “You didn’t seem to be enjoying yourself, so I thought we could just go home.” Makoto smiled at him, being sincere. _

 

_ “What makes you say that?” Haru asked, not looking him in the eye. _

 

 _“You just seemed bored. Anyway, I won you something, if you want it.” Makoto handed the phone strap to Haru. “It’s a decoration for your phone.”_ _Haru blinked at him. He nodded and accepted it._

 

_ Turning around, Haru opened his door and stepped inside before closing it behind him. Makoto sighed as he watched his raven haired friend disappear from sight,  _

 

_ “Maybe it was too girly for a gift.” Makoto says aloud as he turns to walk home to his dorm himself. _

 

It had happened so fast, Makoto didn’t even comprehend it until it was over. He couldn’t even  _ respond _ until Haru was back inside his home.

 

_ Haru’s door opened once again, causing Makoto to turn around in confusion. _

 

_ “What’s wrong Haru? Did you forget…. something ?.” Makoto’s words turned confused as Haru walked up to him and leaned in way closer than he was used to. Haru seemed to hesitate a moment as he looked his friend in the eyes, before looking at his lips. Haru then closed the gap between the two, brushing his lips slightly against Makoto’s. _

 

_ They kissed each other on the cheek when they were children once in awhile, but this was different. Haru, his childhood friend had kissed him with passion and desire. _

 

_ Well shit. _

 

_ It wasn’t a long kiss at all, more like a peck, before Haru pulled back and looked Makoto in the eyes, his own blue eyes showing as much confusion as Makoto felt. _

 

_ “Goodnight.” He said as he turned around and walked back in his home, leaving a very baffled  and frozen Makoto to gape at the now closed door.  _

 

_ “Haru?!” He exclaimed as he ran to  the door, which obviously was not going to open again no matter how many times he pounded on it. After a full minute of knocking, he stopped and raised a finger as he felt his lips.  _

 

_ What was that? Did it mean something? Well of course it meant something. Right?  _

 

Makoto tried to bring it up the next day, but dropped the matter when he realized Haru wasn’t going to talk about it again. But in the end. Makoto is still as confused as he was, if not more so. 

 

So, Makoto gave up on trying to bring it up. Until now. When he gave Haru his phone back, he’d mention it, like “ _ Hey, you forgot your phone. So, about that kiss a few days ago?” _

 

That didn’t work. Haru took his phone and nodded his thanks before Makoto could get a word in when he gave it back. Defeated, he began to walk back home.

 

He was almost to the end of the apartment hallway when he heard a door open, and the presence of someone next to him.  The person must’ve ran, they couldn’t’ve caught up so fast otherwise.

 

“I made you this.” The tired voice from behind him instantly sounded familiar. Makoto turned and was met with Haru wearing grey sweatpants and a blue t-shirt, holding a small wrapped box.

 

“I thought I’d make it as a thanks, but it can also be an apology for not talking about…” Haru didn’t complete his thought., not that he had to.

 

Makoto raised an eyebrow and looked at Haru. What was this?  _ Sorry for kissing you, ignoring you and the fact I kissed you. But here’s some food !!  _ ? Well Makoto wasn’t just going to let Haru have his way right now.

 

“Haru, I appreciate the thought. I’m really confused, though. Why didn’t you explain?” Makoto was genuinely concerned and looked straight at his friend.

 

Darting his eyes away from Makoto’s stare, Haru raised his arm and plopped the home made bento into Makoto’s hand. “Give them to me.”

 

“I’m sorry, give you what?” Makoto asked, peering at the bento. Anything to avoid Haru’s eyes that were now back on him. 

 

Gesturing to Makoto’s coat pocket, Haru answered with no hidden emotion in his voice. “Your cigarettes.”

 

“I… Okay.” Makoto reached inside his coat pocket and gave him the pack and lighter.

 

Haru stared at the contents that were placed inside his outstretched hand. He closed his fingers around them and ran his free hand through his hair. “You’re impossible.” 

 

Makoto gazed at him, “I only gave you what you asked for.” 

 

Haru looked up at him. “I know. That’s why you’re impossible. I forgot you could always buy more cigarettes. “

 

Makoto understood now. That was supposed to be a test to see if Makoto would stop smoking for Haru. He must’ve realized that the test meant nothing if Makoto thought he would just buy more on his way back home. 

 

“But I’m afraid I like that lighter too much to just replace it. I can’t smoke without that, and I gave it to you. It won’t matter if I buy more cigarettes.” Makoto held out his hand, obviously suggesting that Haru give back the tye-dyed blue lighter. 

 

Of course Haru didn’t move. The two men stared at each other, one tightly gripping the pack of cigarettes and the lighter at his side, and the other with an outstretched hand and a bento. This stand-still was all Makoto needed to finally, after days of confusion, understand Haru.

 

Haru had wanted to see if Makoto would give up the addiction- something that would most likely make him suffer in hours from deprivation. That had meant to be it for Haru. Haru just wanted that answer. So Makoto gave it to him.  _ Yes _ he would give up his addiction for him. He may have done it subconsciously at first, but he didn’t regret it.

 

Now Makoto asked for his lighter back. Not really wanting it, but to see if he would simply give back the deadly smokes. That’s the answer Makoto wanted. And the answer he got was  _ No. _ He was not getting it back.

 

Makoto gave the cigarettes to Haru not only because he trusted him. Haru didn’t give them back for the same reason. This couldn’t of just been because they were friends.

 

“I see.” Makoto put his hand down and inched closer to Haru. “Thank you.”  He leaned closer to the raven haired man.  He smiled and ruffled his raven hair, which made Haru close his eyes. Haru then opened one of them open to peer up at Makoto who was much closer than before. 

 

_ Too close. _

 

Haru stepped back in surprise. Some raw emotion in his wide eyes that Makoto couldn’t name. Regret? Makoto put his hand back at his side as he stepped back. A sad smiled played on his lips as he turned around to head down the flight of stairs.

 

“Goodnight, Haru.”

 

\---------------------------------------------------------

 

Rin whistles as he puts on his leather jacket that he had stored in the break room for the day. It was past ten o’clock and the last of the customers left for the day. 

 

Gou decided to go to Chigusa’s for the night- and thank god for that. It was raining and Rin didn’t have it in him to tell her that if she walked with him to the uni, she would’ve had to take the bus back home.

 

Rin stepped outside the back entrance, thankful he had decided to wear his jacket. The temperature was even colder than this afternoon, and he was certain he’d get sick after this. He almost turned back around to go lock the front door, but he remembered Momo had done it when he left.

 

Walking behind all the stores was always eerie, and Rin liked to avoid it in any way he could. Today was an emergency, though, due to his car. So he’d have to deal with it until he got back to uni. A couple of times he could’ve sworn he heard footsteps or the rustle of clothes, but disregarded the noises as store owners or stray animals.

 

The pain in his back was sudden and made him stifle a groan. His arm felt like it was being clawed by a vicious animal as it was pushed into the bumpy cement wall he was now being pinned up against. In surprise, Rin closed his eyes. He could feel the breath of someone by his neck and could smell a faint scent of smoke.

 

“Look at what has been brought to me on this lonely….,” Rin shut his eyes tight. He didn’t want to believe this was happening. He could easily try and get away, but he was being held so tightly against the wall that fear froze him in his place. The figure took a sharp intake of breath, almost like he was smelling Rin. “...night.”

 

The man’s sentence had scared Rin enough, but as he was trying to hold back on screaming for help, the figure’s breath suddenly moved closer to his face. Rin shot open his eyes in fear, wide eyes finally being able to make out the shape of the man in front of him.  The dim streetlight which was flickering barely helped Rin see the man. From what he could tell, he was wearing a ratty coat and a torn fedora. He couldn’t make out any facial features, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

 

_ Let go of me. _

 

The figure creeped closer to Rin’s face before he was forced to close his eyes again, afraid of what was to come.

 

_ Let me go. _

 

He began touching Rin’s hair, almost caressing it. 

 

_ Stop this, _

 

As rough, chapped lips began running across Rin’s collarbone, he tightly squeezed his eyes shut. The words he was thinking wouldn’t form in his mouth. The fear he was feeling wouldn’t help him push him off. The feeling of the grimey lips touching his neck and moving around made him cringe in disgust. 

 

_ Help me. _

 

Maybe this was how he would die. In a fight with his sister, never being able to talk to his mom about his father. Getting mugged, raped, and killed seemed a fitting death for a Starbucks manager who cut ties with his family and constantly overworked himself. Right?

 

“...Let go.” The voice made the man who was currently ravishing his lips on Rin’s shoulder blade stop and slowly pull back. Rin, for a second, thought he  _ himself _ had said it, that maybe he finally choked out the words. But when he opened his eyes, he saw the figure in front of him was staring down the alley rather than at him. His arm was gripped tighter which made Rin wince in pain. 

 

The figure snarled. “He wants this too. So I suggest you leave.” The tightening on his arm was getting to the point of unbearable. Finally, Rin had the sudden energy to attempt to push the figure off. It wasn’t a strong push, seeing as Rin was still weak in the knees, but it was enough to say to the new stranger;  _ I don’t want this. _

 

In the seconds following, the hand on his arm was ripped away as the figure fell backwards on the concrete. The stranger had punched him so hard in the face, it looked like he was bleeding from his lip. Rin immediately grabbed his throbbing arm and slid down the wall.

 

Muttering a jumble of curses under his breath, the figure staggered back to his feet and ran to the opposite direction, using the shadows to conceal him. Just as Rin went to look up at the man who had punched his assaulter’s jaw,  he was yanked up by the collar of his shirt and pinned against the wall again. Fierce blue-green eyes illuminated by the moon came closer and met frightened red eyes.

 

“Rin Matsuoka?” The black haired man asked, not letting go of his shirt. Rin nodded quickly before he was roughly dropped from the wall. “So weak you couldn’t fight yourself? Pathetic.” The angered eyes ripped away from Rin’s and the man began to walk away.

 

“ _ Pathetic? _ The man had me in a deathgrip! I couldn’t exactly move or fight back,” Rin retorted, angrily. Just who does this guy think he is? 

 

The man turned back around. “I know, I saw. He didn’t have your legs pinned down, you could’ve kicked him,” he spat as he turned to face him.

 

“Like hell I could’ve! If you’re ever in my position, let me know how fighting back works out.” 

 

“I’ll make sure to do just that,” the stranger said, angrily calm. He started walking away again.

 

“Hey, uh, wait,” Rin said, softening his voice before awkwardly thanking the stranger, “thanks, by the way. If you hadn’t of shown up, I most likely would’ve died.”

 

“Probably,” Something in his tone had changed as well, but still sounded annoyed, “just learn to fight back.”

 

“How do you know my name anyways?” Rin accused

 

“We go to the same uni. You’re at the top of our year.” 

 

“...Oh.” Rin wasn’t going to act like he wasn’t totally ecstatic that someone knew who he was because if his grades. 

 

“Yeah, ‘oh’.”

 

Rin stood in awkward silence, and the man turned back around to walk away, for probably the third time.

 

“Hey, uh, want to walk back together?” He didn’t want to say it was purely for safety reasons, because even though he didn’t particularly like this guy, he was tough. 

 

“...You scared?” He asked, his voice tagged with humor. 

 

“As if,” Rin scoffed, walking to catch up with him, “Why? Are you?”

 

“Don’t kid yourself. Let’s go.” 

 

The walk didn’t seem so bad with another person, but Rin still couldn’t shake the feeling of the man’s lips against his neck. He shivered. Hopefully it would go unnoticed by… Wait. Did they even exchange names? Obviously the man knew Rin’s name but, Rin didn’t know his.

 

“What’s your name?” Rin asked, looking up at the stranger.

 

Sousuke looked a bit surprised at the fact Rin didn’t know his name. “Sousuke.” 

 

“Sou-su-ke,” Rin said, testing the name. He took a quick glance at him. “Suits you enough.”

 

_ Enough !? Just who does this guy think he is ? _

 

“You’re one to talk. Yours makes you sound like you’re a girl.” Sousuke retorted.

 

“My parents expected a girl!” Rin exclaimed as he stuck his arms out in the air, fuming, “If you think that’s bad, they gave my sister a boy’s name.”

 

“That can’t be a coincidence.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

Sousuke turned a sudden left on a street that led back to the main road. Rin had forgotten about his actual destination and almost missed it. Quietly following in suit and turning, the silence in the air thickened as the continued to walk.

 

They reached the end of the alley and Sousuke turned again, walking on the sidewalk besides stores that were lit up for the nightlife. The yellow glow of window string lights illuminated and Sousuke could see it perfectly now. And  _ damn _ was he handsome.

 

The golden aura of the streetlight brought out the green tint in his eyes. The moon seemed to make his skin glow and… Rin  _ really _ needed to get a hold of himself. For the first time that night, Rin took a look at Sousuke’s outfit. He was wearing military green jeans with a white long sleeved shirt. Over the shoulders of the shirt looked like a casual vest that went mid torso. In one hand he was holding a black jacket that he must’ve taken off and around his neck...looked

like a silver dog tag.  

 

It was way too late when Rin realized he was checking Sousuke out. Sousuke had looked over at him when he felt Rin was staring. Rin quickly adverted his eyes and turned his head, his face quickly heating up. 

 

Rin ended up following Sousuke into a bar, but he played it off like he totally meant to do that. Rin  _ definitely _ wouldn’t get lost if he tried to find his way back. No way.

 

“Why’d you follow me?” Sousuke asked, a hint of venom in his voice.  _ Oh. _

 

“I uh, thought I’d come with!” How was Rin going to weasel his way out of this one? Who knew? Not Rin. 

 

“How’d you know I was going to a bar?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“...Lucky guess. Besides, a friend of mine goes to this bar, and I was going to see if he was here,” Rin said, maybe a little defensively. Secretly, he wanted to stay around this guy a little more. He seemed a bit pissed and honestly Rin didn’t want him killing himself by drinking to death. 

 

Sousuke walked inside. “Uh-huh. Okay, whatever. Just don’t get too wasted.” 

 

“Hey! I’ve been drinking before. I’m not 12, I don’t need a babysitter.”  _ Lie. _ Maybe not the ‘being-12-years-old’ bit, but he hasn’t been drinking before. Not even with Nitori. It seemed kind of sad, now that Rin looked back on it. It wasn’t Rin’s fault he didn’t want to pass up keeping his position at the top of the class by drinking  _ every _ weekend.

 

Sousuke took a seat on a barstool at the far end, near the wall. Rin followed, but leaving a seat in between them.

 

“So... See your friend anywhere?” Sousuke asked sarcastically, seeing as the only other person in the bar was an old man with a scraggly beard and balding head.

 

“Very funny. Seriously though, I’m surprised he isn’t here. Then again, it is a Wednesday night, and he’s probably sleeping since he has class early tomorrow.” Nitori was usually always here after he finished his essays.

 

“Seems reasonable enough. Oi, I’ll have a beer, please,” Sousuke called to the bartender when he reappeared from some room on the side of the bar.

 

“Right. What about you, sir?” The man asked, looking over at Rin.

 

“Oh, uh, same as him. Beer please.” 

 

The bartender reached behind him in the fridge under the counter and grabbed two bottles of beer for them. Somehow, Sousuke had the physical strength to open the bottle with his teeth, while Rin struggled for a full minute before sighing in defeat. As Rin went to request for an opener, but Sousuke put up a hand to stop him.

 

“I understand fully why you were pinned against a wall and almost raped. You’re weak.” 

 

Rin opened his mouth to retort in defense, but then his beer disappeared out of his hand and into Sousuke’s. He then raised it to his teeth like he had done to his own bottle and ripped off the cap with a simple jerk of his neck. 

 

“How are your teeth not falling out?” Rin sat back down, this time in the stool closer to Sousuke.  _ Whoops _ . It’d be rude to get up and change seats, right? Oh well. 

 

Rin lifted the bottle and swallowed a big gulp of the alcoholic beverage. Well, swallowed half of it. In one pipe, he could feel the burning sensation of the beer trickling down his throat. In the  _ other _ however…..

 

“Shi-,” Rin started, but was cut off as he felt the liquid go down the wrong pipe. He began to splutter and choke as he suddenly sat up straighter, hitting his fist to his chest. After a few moments, Rin cleared his throat. “Shit.”

 

“So,” Sousuke had a smile on his lips as he took a much smaller swig of his drink, before setting it down on the bar top once again. “how did it taste?”

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------

  
  


Sousuke was rather amused at how the situation had turned out. Next to him was a very drunk Rin complaining about things that barely made sense.

 

So far, he’d only slurred some random stories that probably could’ve been real things that had happened to Rin, minus everyone in it being penguins.  He was just about to try to get hin to leave when he ordered another drink. Great.

 

Sousuke himself had nothing but one beer, seeing as he was probably going to be the one responsible for getting the red haired mess home. He would call himself the ‘designated driver’, but his piece of crap car decided not to start for him after work. Sousuke was grateful that it did give out on him though, because he could get Rin out of that alley.  _ No. _ Sousuke corrected himself internally.  _ For all I know he deserved what happened to him.  _ He immediately reasoned that he was _ almost _ grateful. Almost.

 

The list of things that could’ve snapped him out of his thoughts then was limited, but sure enough he returned to reality as he heard a noise and looked at Rin. He was immediately greeted with a teary face and a running nose, hiding behind ridiculously long bangs.

 

Sousuke was taken aback for a second, completely unsure of what happened. What happened to the tired confused drunk he was with a second ago?

 

“Rin ?” 

 

The man now had his head buried in his arms on the bar, so every word that came out of his mouth was muffled. Sousuke managed to understand.

 

“D-did I deserve what the pervert did to me?”

 

Rin almost seemed like he was whimpering, almost as if he was frightened to think about the previous events of the evening. It was insanely reasonable to be scared of that, even if what happened hadn’t happened for long. Sousuke scrunched up his nose. He knew he could give Rin the answer that was obvious, a simple _ “No, of course not.” _  But he didn’t look like he would remember this conversation in an hour, or even comprehend any words spoken to him (It really was his first time drinking, after all), so Sousuke only put his hand on Rin’s shoulder, squeezing gently. This caused Rin to look up, his eyes hazy and full of sadness. When Sousuke failed to look into his eyes, he shifted his eyes straight ahead and looked at nothing in particular.

  
“Dumbass.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same time next week :)


End file.
